Indian men’s and women’s cricket teams wear black armbands in memory of Manmohan Singh

Virat Kohli, wearing a black armband, walks out before the start of play on the second day of the fourth cricket test between Australia and India at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne, Australia, on Friday (December 27, 2024).
| Photo Credit: AP

The Indian men’s and women’s cricket teams sported black armbands in their respective matches on Friday to honour former prime minister Manmohan Singh, who died in New Delhi.

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Mr. Singh, a two time former prime minister from 2004 to 2014, died at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) on Thursday (December 27, 2024) after losing consciousness at his home owing to age-related ailments. He was 92.

The men’s team, led by Rohit Sharma, is playing the Boxing Day Test against Australia in Melbourne.

The women’s side, on the other hand, is facing West Indies in the third and final ODI in Vadodara.

“The Indian team is wearing black arm bands as a mark of respect in the memory of former PM Dr Manmohan Singh, who passed away,” the BCCI said in a statement.

Mr. Singh, also a renowned economist, was the architect and the brainchild of economic reforms in 1991 that pulled India from the brink of bankruptcy and ushered in an era of economic liberalisation that is widely believed to have changed the course of India’s economic trajectory.